Two separate memos from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to
the Marine Corps ordered the Marine Corps to fully
gender-integrate training for entry-level Marines, as well as
making job titles less gender specific.

"No later than January, 15, 2016, submit to my office a
detailed implementation plan that addresses the gender
integration of officer and enlisted basic training," Mabus wrote
in the memo.

In the past, the Marine Corps expressed that some roles should
remain closed to women.

"As we achieve full integration of the force ... this is an
opportunity to update the position titles and descriptions
themselves to demonstrate through this language that women are
included in these MOSs (Military Occupation Specialties)," Mabus
wrote in a second memo.

"Please review the position titles throughout the Marine
Corps and ensure that they are gender-integrated as well,
removing 'man' from the titles and provide a report to me as soon
as is practicable and no later than April 1, 2016."

This step may seem a huge change, that would
alter age-old axioms like "Every marine is a rifleman
first," but only certain titles will be changed.

Gunnery
Sgt. Dragos Coca engages targets during a desert survival and
tactics course. Coca is a platoon sergeant with 15th Marine
Expeditionary Unit. Elements of the 15th MEU trained with the 5th
Overseas Combined Arms Regiment in Djibouti from Sept. 21 to Oct.
7 in order to improve interoperability between the MEU and the
French military.US Marine Corps/Sgt.
Steve H. Lopez

A Navy official told the Marine Times that only titles where the word
"man" appears as a separate word will be changed. Therefore,
titles like "infantryman" and "rifleman" will go
unchanged.

Whereas, "reconnaissance man" or "field artillery
sensor support man" will simply have the word "man"
removed.